Hunting down and sitting up

It wasn't all bad for the Bears Sunday. It was just mostly bad. RedEye looks at what went right, what went wrong and what could have drawn criminal charges in some countries.

THE GOOD

Hunter the hunter

A week after struggling while filling in for Brian Urlacher against the Vikings, reserve linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer had a career day against the Eagles.

Here's a breakdown of what Hillenmeyer did on Sunday (watch your back, Brian)

- On third-and-7 on the Eagles' opening series of the second half, Hillenmeyer dislodged the ball from Freddie Mitchell's grasp and deflected it to rookie cornerback Nathan Vasher for the interception. "Hunter made a great hit, and the ball popped up, and I was just there," Vasher said.

- Hillenmeyer had eight tackles.

- He quickly recognized offenses schemes and called out defensive adjustments.

Honorable mention

Bears coach Lovie Smith likes to refer to Vasher as "the Interceptor." Smith used the term again Sunday after Vasher picked off a pass against the Eagles in his first start. It was the first interception Donovan McNabb had thrown in 162 passes.

"It felt good to come down with it and try to do something for the offense," Vasher said. "I'm going to remember that one."

Vasher played with confidence in making three tackles, breaking up one pass and grabbing the interception. "Nathan knows how to get around the football," Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said.

THE BAD

McQuarters mcmuffed it

It seem you can't spell "wrong" without R.W. A week after Randy Moss busted McQuarters down to McNickels, the starting cornerback had a chance to redeem himself by simply not making any mistakes or allowing big plays for the Eagles.

He failed at both in one fell swoop.

Down 6-0, the Bears forced the Eagles to punt. But McQuarters couldn't hold on to the ball after signaling a fair catch when rookie Nathan Vasher was blocked into him on the return.

Qasim Mitchell: The young Bears left tackle received the wrath of several veteran linemen for not picking up the blitz. Center Olin Kreutz tossed an empty cup at Mitchell along the sideline but later took part of the blame.

Quinn was sacked four times by the Eagles in his first start since 2001. He was sacked three times on the last drive when his team had no timeouts.

"I messed up at the end of the game, of course," Mitchell said. "They brought more than we had to block. Credit goes to them for scheming our offense."

THE UGLY

Not gonna take this sitting up

Bears players and coaches were furious when Philadelphia wide receiver Terrell Owens began doing sit-ups in the end zone after his 11-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. They wanted an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for what they saw as a planned, choreographed celebration, which the league punishes.

Owens had a suggestion.

"If they're going to be ticked off, then keep me out of the end zone," he said. "My thing is, I'm going to have fun with the game. I work hard personally and in the off-season to better myself and get in the end zone to help my team.

"If they're ticked off, then they have to do something about it."

Honorable mention

The Bears rushing attack: The plan for Smith was simple: Just keep McNabb and crew off the field by feeding the ball to Thomas Jones.

The Eagles foiled that strategy by controlling the clock against an undermanned Bears defense.

Philadelphia possessed the ball for 37 minutes 21 seconds compared with 22:39 for the Bears and wore down a young defensive line with McNabb and Brian Westbrook, who had 178 yards from scrimmage.

Offensive coordinator Terry Shea didn't do Jonathan Quinn or the defense any favors with play-calling that quickly and surprisingly abandoned the run.